A Stupid Quick Guide to How I Became An Ultramarathoner in a Year

It only took one year of hard work to change my life

This is me before I ran 30 miles straight no stopping.

Good health starts with the mind. If you can make a mental shift, you can change your life forever.

I put that to the test this year.

On Jan. 1, I prepared for Army Officer Candidate School by running two miles, and sometimes five. I wanted Army training to be a breeze, so I pushed extra hard.

I prioritized progressive overload which is the most effective way to get faster and stronger. That means adding new stressors to your body.

For example:

• Weekly Hill Sprints (the hill I ran was insane, ask Cody Collins)
• Slow-metabolic burning exercises (i.e. one really slow painful push-up as opposed to 10 fast shitty ones).
• Increasing the distance on my runs — it eventually makes five miles seem like cake and so on.

The 20 Mile Run That Changed My Life

My dad is a former D1 track athlete.

But don’t let that fool you. I hated running growing up. I hated exercise and didn’t start working out at all until three years ago.